Blackburn 1 United 1 - CHAMPIONS

Sir Alex Ferguson signaled his intent to put the Premier League title to bed this lunchtime by selecting a very strong side to face Blackburn at Ewood Park.

In fact of those normally considered to be his strongest starting eleven, only Edwin Van der Sar (rested) , Patrice Evra (on the bench) and Paul Scholes (on the bench were not starting.

With Ryan Giggs selected, the Welshman equaled Steve Perryman`s record of 613 top flight appearances for one club whilst Rio Ferdinand made his 600th club appearance. Michael Carrick was another to reach a milestone making his 150th league appearance for United.

United got the half underway and could have taken an early lead when, in the fourth minute, Nani crashed a header against the Blackburn bar from a Rooney cross.

Nani then drove a shot wide in a period of possession whereby United were clearly on top. With ten minutes completed Blackburn forced a corner and when it was worked back in Samba crashed a shot over when it looked as if a goal was on the cards.

United continued to have the greater share of possession but Kuszczak was giving everyone a heart-attack with a nervy clearance form a back-pass, something he was to repeat later in the half.

With twenty-minutes played Blackburn, against the run of play, took the lead when Emerton fired home a low shot from a Hoilett cross into the box.

Blackburn 1 United 0 (Emerton - 20 minutes)

United tried to respond to going a goal down but Valencia saw his cross evade everyone, before a cross from Emerton evaded everyone in the United box. Robinson was then forced to claw a shot from Hernandez around the post before a Salgado cross was volleyed wide by Olsson.

As half time approached Evans saw a cross-cum-shot cleared by Robinson whilst both Rooney and Nani saw shots go over the bar.

Half Time - Blackburn 1 United 0

Blackburn got the second half underway and the first meaningful effort saw a Carrick shot blocked on the edge of the area. Nerves seemed to be playing a part and Hernandez first touch let him down when a chance beckoned.

Kuszczak cleared a cross off the head of Samba before a Nani shot deflected for a corner whilst Giggs saw a close range shot blocked by Phil Jones. Sir Alex Ferguson sensing that a change was needed to get United back into the game brought on Scholes for Fabio.

Midway through the half Blackburn almost went 2-0 up when an Olsson header, from an Emerton cross, rattled the post. Minutes later, with seventy minute splayed, Hernandez went through one-on-one with Robinson and although he over-ran the ball his legs were clipped by the keeper.

After consulting the linesman Phil Dowd gave a penalty and Wayne Rooney sent the keeper the wrong way.

Blackburn 1 United 1 (Rooney pen - 73 minutes)

Following the penalty both teams appeared to be happy with a point apiece and fifteen minutes of keep-ball ensued. Three minutes of added time were played out before the final whistle blew to signal United were Champions!

Comments

As for the game itself I personally don't think it was us playing bad but more so Blackburn defending magnificently. The only poor performance on the pitch was Kuszczak who can normally cope with the pressure of coming in with no real form and putting a solid shift in. Many players had quiet games but through no fault of their own, Blackburn marked, defended and closed down brilliantly. MOTM is hard quite simply because no one really stood out to me other than Vidic.

Congrats guys, for your fighting and never-say-die attitude and winning mentality. A lot of talk from me and my fellow Blues about who deserves this title but by now there is really no doubt. Congrats, and all you stinking mancunians can go enjoy the community shield now! :P